Ponies on Ponies

by Ravenmane

15 - Out in the Open

Three months, it’s been nearly three whole months and we still don’t have a way to get everypony home. Twilight had sequestered herself in the study again, leaving for just enough time to keep herself alive. I’m not the only one who shows far more worry than anything else. My work was showing my distress with every passing day.

“Yes, I’ll need to move your appointment to next week.” I tried to remain calm on the phone. I had to talk outside, Pinkie was plotting something and it was rather loud. “I’m sorry, but something has me rather busy right now. No, I don’t have an opening until Tuesday. Yes, yes five thirty works fine.” I gave a sigh as I hung up. This was the third job I had to reschedule this week and it was only Monday.

Sam had come by every day for a few weeks. I’d always buzz her in and she would try to work with Pinkie to keep all of our spirits high. Last Saturday however, after an impromptu saucy song and dance show with Pinkie, she stopped showing up all together. For the record, it was Pinkie that leaned towards the saucy end of the routine.

A week ago, I wouldn’t have had as heavy bags under my eyes as I do now. Nearly everyone was showing signs of fatigue, even Rainbow who would spend countless hours playing on the Xbox. I had also given up completely about how Rainbow could play video games without fingers to manipulate the controller. Spike was easier though, he had fingers but not Rainbow’s reactions; go figure. Rainbow would go out and fly from time to time, but much like her game reactions, she was sluggish at best. Even in these doldrums, Spike was outpaced by the pegasus’ reactions.

Today was just a disaster, I was a wreck, no pony had seen Applejack since she locked herself in the basement at the crack of dawn, and Twilight was lost in thought. Pinkie was showing signs of fatigue the one time I saw her, but she was working very hard in the kitchen after I returned inside. She had barricaded the door or something so nobody could get in to help her or even get a drink. I had gone out to get us a case of bottled water to remedy that already.

“Were they mad Alex?” Fluttershy’s soft voice greeted me. Her mane was frazzled, as if she was afraid of her brush, and she looked like she was having trouble sleeping. Yesterday, when we all resigned to the fact that Twilight would just sleep in the study, we shuffled our bedrooms again. This left the demure mare with me after a quick trade with Applejack. Like everyone else, she was constantly being nudged when she had shared a bed with Pinkie.

I looked at her with a very bleak look plastered on my face. “They didn’t sound it, but I know they were.” At one time, I would’ve called it cute when her face contorted into such a reassuring smile. Now it was far different. It was forced. She was far from the Fluttershy we all knew and loved. “Know what Pinkie’s doing in the kitchen?”

“No, she won’t let anypony in. She said it was a surprise for everypony when Rarity tried to get in.” After a few feeble flaps of her wings, I just kneeled down to look her in the eye. “It’ll be okay Alex,” she assured me before patting me on the back. “She’s doing her best to keep a smile on everypony’s face.”

“But doesn’t it seem like she’s trying extra hard to keep me happy Fluttershy? I know she doesn’t want me to break my promise.” Nobody in their right mind would dare break a Pinkie Promise. It would be far worse to break a Pinkie Promise with everypony on edge like they were now.

*****

Slowly the April night continued to grow fouler. Soon it would be raining, and if the weather reports were accurate, the worst storm in a decade was going to happen late tonight. Pinkie was still in the kitchen, what scheme she had up her hooves tonight was anyone’s guess. Spike was watching Rainbow play some sports game while Fluttershy and I were playing what felt like our millionth round of poker that night, Applejack and Rarity joined us somewhere along the way.

At the first crack of lightning, everypony heard something from upstairs. “I GIVE UP!” Twilight had screamed at the top of her lungs. I was the first to react as I ran upstairs at a speed I was sure even Rainbow could envy. This was far more important than the killer hand I had; after all, it was only a card game.

When I opened the door Twilight was slumped over, a massive pile of notes in front of her, books scattered all over, and a pile of discarded pens next to her. It was breaking my heart to hear her admit defeat like this. “Twi,” what little energy I had left in me tried its best to make sure I was honestly sad. “You need sleep. You’re not thinking straight and you could really use a good meal. If you’d let me work with you I doubt you’d be saying that.”

She looked to the doorway and got up, trotting over to me with tears in her eyes. “No, I can’t get letters to Princess Celestia. I can’t just teleport us home. I can’t do anything.” She slumped onto her haunches and looked up to me. “What can I do?”

I sat down in the doorway and looked at her apologetically. “You can be the Twilight Sparkle we all know. You can get back up and give it another try. This time you ask for some help though. I know I don’t know anything about magic, but I want to help.”

“No, I can’t be the Twilight you all know,” she seemed to ignore the last part. “I’m just not that good anymore.”

“You’re just going to give up?” A scowl was now on my face. “You’re not just somepony. You are Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia’s most faithful student, the embodiment of the Element of Magic, and my best friend. You don’t just simply give up you call in reinforcements. To a smart mare like you this is war.”

She cried. For how long I couldn’t say, but I stayed there the whole time. She stopped when she saw that everypony was assembled behind me and that everyone shared the same pleading expression. “Okay Alex, I’ll try again. I want your help; your knowledge of this world might help me see something I didn’t find.”

A sound like a noisemaker went off behind me and we all looked to Pinkie at the back of the group, her coat had gone back to the vibrant pink we all remember. It’s been a week since we saw that. “Well, everypony’s surprise is down on the dinner table.” Her voice was no longer cracked and forced. She sounded genuinely happy; it was a relief to no longer hear her forcing such a happy tone.

Nearly everypony turned around and followed the hopping party pony downstairs. I waited for Twilight to get up before standing myself. “Still friends Twi?”

Twilight sniffled and nodded her head. The two of us went downstairs together in silence, our faces flushed. There are just some things you didn’t have to say. Some of these things should’ve been said but there was too much tension.

When we reached the dining room, what we saw at our usual seats was beyond strange. Cakes in the shape of cutie marks, everypony had their own before them aside from Spike and myself. At my place was a cake in the shape of interwoven gears; at Spike’s seat was an interesting sugar sculpture.

“Uhh Pinkie how did you get your hooves on a fire ruby in this world?” Spike’s question was the one we were all probably thinking. Pinkie had her limits and we already knew that.

“Silly Spike,” her response was disturbingly chipper. “I made it from sugar, it was soooo hard to make and I had to think for a long time about how I would make it. That’s also why I had Applejack in the kitchen helping me. Do you like it?”

The dumbwaiter, I thought, no wonder we didn’t see her since she went into the cellar. Wait, that thing’s ancient how did, my eyes narrowed a little, Pinkie Pie…

“It’s perfect, thanks Pinkie.”

“Then why do I have a pair of gears Pinkie,” I don’t have a cutie mark and it wasn’t a computer or anything else like that either. I’m not completely sure about the former by now though. I’m really starting to think that I’m thinking more like a pony with every passing day.

“Well, you don’t have a cutie mark so I guessed what it would look like if you did have one. Do you like it?”

I was beside myself; Pinkie came up with a cutie mark for me. “I love it, but there’s more to it than just saying that. I just…I can’t manage to find the words.” The sheer joy I felt was undeniable. It isn’t often that someone would see something like this, but I thought she got me pegged pretty good. “Thank you so much Pinkie.”

My words or lack thereof, seemed to blow her away as she vanished from everypony’s sight, causing us to rush to her side. With some work, we got her back on her hooves and seated. “Right, I say we dig in. We should enjoy these lovely cakes Pinkie and Applejack have kindly made.”

At sound of my suggestion, Pinkie raised a hoof. “Actually, I have a teeny tiny confession. I want everypony to give their gift to somepony they really care about. Not in a like like kind of way, but that you really, really care about.” Eight pairs of eyes looked to each other with a great amount of consideration.

Applejack grinned. “Thing is, you can only give it to one pony.”

I can’t vouch for everyone else but personally, I thought it was genius. We had to give something that was, for lack of better words, ourselves to somepony else. I was curious what those two were scheming, but like everything else regarding Pinkie, I couldn’t place my hoof… I mean hand… I mean-oh, you know what I mean. Confound these ponies…

Rarity started us off by giving her diamond cake to Spike. “Spike, you’re always there when I need you. Always willing to do whatever I ask you to do. You should take my cake. I hope you enjoy it.”

He took it, like it was some sort of sacred relic. In return, he gave his sugar ruby to Rarity. He didn’t say anything, but he may as well have screamed, “I love you” at the top of his lungs. At least I know I wasn’t the only one thinking it.

Fluttershy was next to move, giving her butterfly cake to Pinkie. “You worked so hard Pinkie, keeping this secret from everypony. I umm, I want you to have mine. If that’s okay with everypony I mean.”

Rainbow Dash was thinking hard. “Alex, take mine.” She passed her rainbow lightning bolt cake to me from across the table. “I want to thank you for helping me keep my spirits high. So I can, you know, keep moving towards my dreams.”

I was beside myself; I didn’t see it coming at all. In my periphery, I saw Twilight glaring daggers at Rainbow. I thought about this hard. “Fluttershy, you’re always looking out for me. Even with everything going on.” Both Rainbow and Twilight glared at Fluttershy right then. It’s not something simple like affection, it’s the support she showed me.

After I returned to my seat, I looked to the rainbow bolt cake. Did I really deserve this gesture? What about Twilight’s feelings? I’m not blind, she gave Rainbow one of those glares. What about my own feelings? Where does it all fit together? Does it even fit together? The questions crept into my mind and I didn’t even hear why Twilight traded her cake with Applejack for hers. I was just lost in my thoughts and my doubts; my head was spinning around like crazy.

The trading ended with Pinkie passing hers to Rainbow Dash, but I could tell it helped that Rainbow provided a good form of entertainment for everypony until she got mad at whatever game she was playing. It became hit or miss when she got mad.

*****

After dinner, which followed desert tonight, everypony was starting to settle into how we used to be. We all cleaned up a little, made us all feel better all things considered. We watched a movie together, and we played a round of the quiet game where Fluttershy, still the champ, beat me when I failed to resist The Stare. I swear using that thing’s just cheating.

“I don’t care how many times I see it,” Rainbow squealed, “Indiana Jones is just awesome!” We all could see through her, it was like watching Daring Do to her.

“Nope it’s got to be Silent Movie,” objected Pinkie. “It’s funny and a real rollercoaster. Who was it who did those movies Alex?”

“Mel Brooks did Pinkie.” I responded; it was a familiar question to hear from her. She could practically worship the ground Brooks walked on and still forget his name every once and a while. I kinda think she was trying to do it for comedic effect sometimes.

“Yeah, he does some really funny movies!”

“Yer half right Pinkie,” Applejack was up to bat in the discussion. “It has to be Blazing Saddles.”

“You would like a western movie Applejack,” said Rainbow coyly. “But it’s also a comedy, can you make up your mind?”

“Back to the Future,” objected Twilight. “It’s a classy time travel movie!”

I had this feeling of impending doom; there was a four-way fan pony war about movies brewing. Fluttershy, Spike, and I elected to duck for cover before things got out of hand. This unfortunately abandoned Rarity, who was on the other side of the room, while Rainbow countered Twilight by mentioning everything past the DeLorean.

“I like a good movie as much as the next guy,” I whispered to them, “but they’re taking this too far.”

Spike nodded, “at least they’re not involving us, right Fluttershy?” We both looked to where Fluttershy was.

She was now up in the air arguing her case against everypony else. “Bambi, I really like Bambi girls.” Fluttershy was holding her ground, remaining assertive, and giving off this feeling as though she was perfectly right.

Rainbow scoffed at the newcomer to the argument. “But you squeal and hide when it comes to when Bambi’s mother is shot every time!”

“So, should we get involved Alex?” Spike was fidgeting. He was worried and I would side with him in a heartbeat, we even sacrificed Rarity to this mess to stay out of it. Then again, this needed to be stopped before it turned into full-scale war. My living room can’t handle a war.

“What do you think we should do Spike?” We remained hidden, planning carefully, while the others bickered. “So it’s agreed then right?”

Spike nodded and we hopped out of our hiding place to see a room full of worry. Whatever plan we had died on the spot, strangled to death by the tension. We looked at the girls, who were in turn, looking out the window. There was a pair of headlights coming up the driveway. The first thing that crossed my mind was how long they had been all here followed swiftly by what day today was. For the love of Celestia, my brother wouldn’t any of take this well at all. This required booze. Lots and lots of booze…

Comments

[CDR]

THE SHITSTORM IS COMING! THE SHITSTORM IS COMING!

[the other sans]

I was the first to react as I ran upstairs at a speed I was Rainbow would envy.

1. I think you mean; That... But I cannot think straight for now for reasons unknown

[JellyMyst]

SOUND THE PINKIE ALARM!

[Jazzaman]

DeLorian

...

*Eye twitch*

Did.. did you just spell Delorean wrong? as in the worlds greatest car, The Delorean...

I am dissapoint

[The Crazy One]

LOL those two be like, "Alex is my human."

All that mare drama.